2. The Bureau is invited to adopt the draft agenda and order of business which will be sent to the participants to the 78th CDDH meeting. Each item that appears at the draft agenda prepared by the Secretariat is recalled hereafter, together with some annotations which should be read in the light of information contained in the reference document CDDH(2013)012.

3. Further to the procedure adopted by the CDDH to consider any request for participation on an ad hoc basis1, the Bureau is invited to decide whether it will allow the participation of NGOs’ Representatives in some items on the agenda of the 78th CDDH meeting: - European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC): items 3, 4, 5 (to be confirmed);
- Conference of European Churches (KEK): item 5 (to be confirmed).

ITEM 2: RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY

Reference document

CDDH(2013)012

Texts of the relevant recommendations, and elements prepared by the Secretariat

CDDH(2013)013

4. The Bureau is invited to exchange views on the elements prepared by the Secretariat (document CDDH(2013)013) in preparation of the exchange of views of the CDDH in June.ITEM 3: REFORM OF THE COURT (DH-GDR)

5. The Bureau is invited to prepare the exchange of views of the CDDH on the reform of the Court in the light, in particular, of the report of the 4th meeting of the Committee of Experts on the Reform of the Court (DH-GDR, 5-7 June 2013, document DH-GDR(2013)R4).

3.1 Completed work (new 11/6/2013)

Draft toolkit to inform public officials about the State’s obligations under the Convention

8. See item 13 below. The Bureau is invited to prepare the exchange of views of the CDDH on the future work concerning Court reform, in the light of the proposals made by the DH-GDR at its 4th meeting (5-7 June 2013, DH-GDR(2013)009), including preparations for the already envisaged activities of Drafting Group “F” on the reform of the Court (GT-GDR-F) to implement section G of the Brighton Declaration (long-term future of the Convention system and the Court).

ITEM 4: ACCESSION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION TO THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

9. The Bureau is invited to prepare the exchange of views of the CDDH on the work undertaken during the negotiation meeting (47+1), in the light, in particular, of the reports and information to be provided by the Secretariat. It is foreseen that the Chair of the negotiation meetings, Ms Tonje MEINICH (Norway) will present the results of the work in the CDDH Plenary June meeting. It is proposed that the CDDH, in June:

(i) note the outcome of the negotiations, without approving the draft instruments pending the conclusion of internal procedures by the negotiating parties, including the opinion of the Court of Justice of the European Union;

(ii) send an interim report to the Committee of Ministers for information, based on the final report of the negotiation group, including the draft instruments as approved by the negotiation group and revised by the linguistic and legal services by the Council of Europe.

11. The Bureau is invited to prepare the exchange of views of the CDDH regarding the examination of the draft recommendation complemented with examples of good practices prepared by its drafting Group on human rights for older persons (CDDH-AGE) at its 3rd meeting (15-17 May 2013; see document CDDH-AGE(2013)R3, Appendix III).

12. The Bureau is invited to prepare the exchange of views of the CDDH regarding:

(i) the state of preparation, by the Secretariat, of a preliminary draft Declaration by the Committee of Ministers supporting the United Nation’s Guiding Principles, for first examination by the CDDH in June;

(ii) proposals by the Secretariat, for examination by the CDDH in June, regarding different ways to involve the private sector in this activity ;

(iii) the organisation of future work on this item, it being understood that the CDDH already addressed in March the necessity to set up a drafting Group for the preparation of a non-binding instrument to be submitted to the Committee of Ministers before 31 December 2015.

13. The Bureau is invited to prepare the examination and possible adoption by the CDDH in June of the draft feasibility study and added value of standard-setting work or other work in the field of human rights in culturally diverse societies.

5.4 Future work

Annotated list of possible items for future work - Document revised by the Secretariat

15. The Bureau is invited to prepare the exchange of views of the CDDH on the work undertaken by the Committee on Bioethics (DH-BIO) at its 3rd meeting (28-30 May 2013), with a view to giving guidance for the pursuit of the work.

16. The Bureau is invited to prepare the exchange of views of the CDDH on the work undertaken by the Gender Equality Committee (GEC) at its 3rd meeting (10-12 April 2013), with a view to giving guidance for the pursuit of the work.

18. The Bureau is invited to prepare the exchange of views of the CDDH in June 2013 on elections, in November 2013, of 8 members of the GEC. This election should be organised in accordance to the procedure decided by the CDDH in 2011 (see Appendix II to the reference document CDDH(2013)012).

19. The Bureau is invited to prepare the meeting of the CDDH with the DH-BIO Chair, Dr Anne FORUS (Norway), foreseen on Thursday 27 June 2013 from 9:30 to 10:15 a.m and with the President of the European Court of Human Rights, Mr Dean SPIELMANN, foreseen on Thursday 27 June 2013 from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Bureau could consider suggesting to the CDDH to invite a representative of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) at a future meeting. Moreover, further to a letter addressed to the Secretariat, the Bureau could also discuss the possibility to suggest to the CDDH to invite Mr Rudko KAWCZYNSKI, Chairman of the European Roma and Travellers Forum, at one of its next meetings6.

20. The Bureau is invited to exchange views, in particular, on the decision of the CDDH to come back, at its June 2013 meeting, on set of issues evoked in March 2013 (see paras 44 and following of the meeting report CDDH(2013)R78), in particular regarding the instruments it prepared.

22. The Bureau is invited to prepare the examination by the CDDH, in June, of its priorities for the next biennium (see the reference document CDDH(2013)012). To facilitate the discussion, the Secretariat will submit a synopsis to the Bureau of the proposals emanating from the various subordinate bodies.

14.1 Requests from some NGO representatives to participate in items on the agenda of the 78th CDDH meeting

23. See para. 3 above.

14.2 United Nations work in the field of human rights

24. The Bureau is invited to inform itself by the Secretariat on the global developments of the work in Geneva. As decided by the CDDH in March 2013, the latter will decide if necessary, on the basis of information received, on the appointment of a Representative to follow a meeting or a particular file.

1 During its 76th meeting (27-30 November 2012, CDDH(2012)R76, §49), the CDDH decided that, “(i) the request should be sent by the Secretariat to all experts of the CDDH for information; (ii) the decision will then be taken by the Bureau.” Requests for participation in some items on the agenda of the 78th meeting (25-28 June 2013) have been communicated by the Secretariat on 23 May 2013 to all the CDDH experts for information.

2 Ibid., para. 9. f) ii). It is recalled that, at its 2nd meeting, the DH-GDR designated Mr Martin EATON (United Kingdom) as consultant expert to prepare a draft toolkit to inform public officials about State’s obligations under the Convention and gave him guidance to achieve this task (see DH-GDR(2012)R2, paras 16-17). This draft toolkit has been presented to the DH-GDR by its drafting Group “D” on the Reform of the Court (GT-GDR-D), which prepared it during its meetings from 10 to 12 April and from 15 to 17 June 2013.

3 See Brighton Declaration, para. 9.f) ii). This draft guide has been presented to the DH-GDR by its drafting Group “D” on the Reform of the Court (GT-GDR-D), which prepared it during its meetings from 10 to 12 April and from 15 to 17 May 2013.